Film Noir
by Somethingclever28
Summary: 1930's Hollywood Caini AU. Detective Calum Worthy has bodies of young torch singers piling up. Will the famed Cotton Club and their fiery new Torch Singers hold the answers. Just for fun. no infringement intended.
1. Chapter 1

His heels clicked on the vacant street. The water from the previous night's storm sluiced down the storm drain and a stray cat ran past him in the dark. The flashlights shone ahead to indicate his destination.

A young detective still seeking to earn the respect of his colleagues, he kept a stony exterior as he approached the scene. A young torch singer, early twenties, stabbed multiple times. Her left ring finger removed as well as her eyelids. A patrolman brushed past him and he heard retching resonating in the distance. The cameraman was snapping shot after shot. Calum circled the body and used his photographic memory to do the same.

"What do you reckon, Worthy? Is it the same killer?"

Chief of Police, James E. Davis stood in front of the body. Calum deferred to him out of respect for his rank but he had no respect for the man. He was a notorious communist chaser and single minded in that fact.

"It has all the earmarks of the Cotton Club killer. Right down to extraction of the ring finger and design in the nylons. Whoever it is certainly hates women." Calum mused.

The killer had come to be known as "The Cotton Club" killer because of the nylons found on the young women were those specifically purchased by the nightclub. A hexagon shape was always ripped through the flesh and nylon on their upper thighs. Three bodies, now four, had shown up at LAPD's doorstep in the last two months.

The scenes had all been dusted for fingerprints, blood spatter sampled and pictures taken. They had been able to narrow down the blood type but the fingerprinting was a long and arduous process that required a clerk to hand match prints.

"He probably met my wife a time or two." The Chief chuckled.

Calum was again reminded of why he disliked the man behind the badge.

After the body was sent to the morgue and the scene was secured, Calum hit the local all night diner for a cup of coffee and a think. The patrolman had interviewed multiple times the employees and patrons of the now legendary Cotton Club. And here they were, still in the same spot. Another dead girl and no more answers.

After his second cup of coffee, he had made up his mind to personally interview the whole of the Cotton Club if he had, too. As strong as he tried to portray himself to be outwardly, he had nightmares and insomnia. Dead eyes penetrating his soul. Fresh faced, young hopefuls reaching across to him from the shadowy void of death.

He pulled up to The Cotton Club in his 1930 Model A Ford Tudor Sedan. Even though it was seven years old, it was quite a pretty penny on his detective salary. He adjusted his dark brown fedora with tan band on his head and checked the buttons on his pinstripe coat of his similarly colored suit.

It was Friday at 10 pm and he gathered it wasn't quite time for the likes of Joan Crawford or Tyrone Power to come storming in. He scanned the place over. Patrons dressed to the nines. Cocktail glassed clinking and soft candle lit tables. Ever since the Volstead Act was repealed, maybe a little before, the Cotton Club and many nightclubs around town had enjoyed a flux of business for the warm, swirling sensation of forgetting life.

He approached the bar and made eye contact with the bartender.

"What'll it be?"

"Blood and Sand."

The bartender turned away to begin to prepare the drink. Calum heard the couple the next to him. They had apparently heard of the new murder.

"I can't believe Mary Anne is gone. You know she had a screen test next week for Louis B. Mayer. Three years on the nightclub circuit and her hard work finally paid off."

"Hard work?" Her companion snorted. "She just put her legs in the air for the right guy finally."

"Shut up, Bruno!" The woman shoved him away and made a beeline to the back of the club.

"Jenny! Angel! Come on. Okay, it was in bad taste." He mainlined his drink and gave chase.

The bartender placed his drink in front of him.

"Don't mind those two. They have a dust up about twice a week."

"She seemed pretty effected by that girl's death."

"They worked together here for a couple of years. Jenny dresses the girls."

Calum took a sip of his drink and composed his mental notes.

"You came on a good night, chum. We have a new girl debuting tonight. She's really something. Not the typical blonde Hollywood type. She's a shortie but she is the dark eyed dark hair type. Legs you wouldn't mind having wrapped your waist. If you get my drift."

Calum nodded and stated "That was pretty quick after the other girl just died."

"It's Hollywood. They move fast. Grab a table. The show starts in fifteen minutes."

He found a table three rows back from the stage. He sat his hat on the table and his drink beside it. In his peripheral vision, he saw the bartender whispering in Jenny's ear and she giggled and kissed his cheek. Bruno was nowhere to be seen.

His mental notepad was filling up quickly.

The lights dimmed to almost total blackness as two spotlight beams ignited the stage. The singer the bartender so colorfully described took the stage. He wouldn't necessarily have used his vulgar parlance but before she even opened her mouth, he knew that she was quite something.

"I am going to start the night off with a little song borrowed from George, Ira, and Fred."

The piano music began to effuse through the room. She grasped the microphone and her voice came out strong and powerful for her stature.

_There are many, many crazy things that will keep me loving you. And with your permission, May I list a few?_

_The way you wear your hat, the way you sip your tea. The memory of all that- No, no- they can't take that away from me._

As she continued the song, Calum's heart began an unsteady thump. His palms began to sweat a little. The thought crossed his mind that he was in trouble and he might like it.

She finished the set and went back to her dressing room. Calum scribbled out a note to invite her for a drink. She walked out from the dressing rooms and skimmed past a table of male gawkers. One reached to grab her by the waist. She smiled serenely and reached for his drink. She leaned in as if to whisper to him and poured the drink on his lap. His friends howled with laughter as she walked away and he rubbed furiously at his pants with a napkin.

Calum pushed up to his feet quickly as she approached and stretched out his hand. He smelled a hint of orange blossoms and lilacs from her French perfume. The emerald green dress she wore skimmed her curves in an enticing way. The rings of dark curls framed her face as she reached out to offer her hand.

"Raini Rodriguez."

"Calum Worthy."

"What kind of a name is Calum?"

"What kind of a name is Raini?"

"Good point."

"Won't you have a seat? Would you like a drink?" Calum called the waitress over.

"I'll have a Sidecar please."

After the waitress headed to the bar, she gave him an appraising glance. "I don't normally drink with men I haven't been introduced to."

"I introduced myself."

"You know what I mean. A perfect stranger."

"I'm hardly perfect. You have a beautiful voice. You're not so bad looking either, kid."

"Stop. You'll get me all flustered."

"You sure you want to do that after what happened to the last one."

"She was living a different life than me."

"And what kind of life was that?"

"What is your angle, pal?" He bit his lip so as not to smile too hard at her sassy attitude.

"I'm a reporter."

"Oh, geez. You just want to talk about Mary Anne. That's a crumby, blood thirsty thing to do. Trying to wine and dine me for a story. "

Calum was a little taken aback but he had to play the part that he had created.

"Look, toots, don't get sore because I am not making a big play for you. I saw what you did to the last guy who tried." He motioned to the table with the drink sodden man.

"If that's what you think making a big play for someone is then I can tell you straight up that I can resist your charms." She shot up from the table and stormed off.

"Hey, what about your drink?"

"I've got another set to play and I would rather drink rat poison than accept a drink from you."

He stared open mouthed after her.

At 2:00 am after the last customer left, he sat playing the piano, waiting for her.

She stepped out in her street clothes. With the costume gone and some of the make-up wiped away, she looked like a little girl. One, he might have thought he needed to protect, had he not known otherwise.

"What are you doing here?"

"Just noodling on the piano. Waiting for you."

"You always noodle Chopin's nocturnes?"

"Only when I am trying to make an impression. Did it work?"

She licked her lips and stared up at him. "Nope."

He laughed.

"Can I offer you a ride?"

"I just live a few blocks away."

"Can I walk you home? It's not safe for you."

Her suspicious eyes were back again.

"Fine but just because there is a maniacal slasher roaming free not because I like you or anything."

"Of course not."


	2. Chapter 2

They arrived at her walk up apartment and Calum froze. He had his part to play but it was against his nature to attempt to take advantage of a lady. She was saying something about the weather and he was thinking of the best way to leave her with the impression that maybe he was just a womanizing newspaper man.

"Well, toots, this is where I leave you but just to give you something to think about until we meet again."

Before she could react, he grabbed her hand and kissed her palm slowly. Even in the streetlight, he could see how pink her cheeks were. Before he could stand up completely straight, her palm connected with his face.

He chuckled

"I was thinking you would lead with your right."

She slammed the door behind her.

He sent her six tulips special delivery at the Cotton Club the next day.

He used that day at work to rummage through the pictures of known criminals for Bruno or the bartender. The fifth book of offenders revealed that Billy "Bruno" Swartzman was a repeat offender for petty larceny and illegal gambling rings. Just a random hood.

No picture after the eighth book for the bartender and Calum felt restless. He would just go to the Cotton Club and ask a few questions about the bartender. And if a certain, raven haired singer wanted to break bread with him, he supposed he could comply.

He walked in to see the place already in full swing. The bar was swamped and the wait staff weaved in and out of the crowd with the fervor of fire ants on the mound. Raini was just walking off stage, blotting her forehead with a lace handkerchief. She saw him and stood still. He nodded his head and she waved him over.

"Hey, toots, what's new? You get my present?"

"I did and they were very pretty before I tossed them in the incinerator."

"You keep doing things like that and I am going to start thinking you don't like me."

She rolled her eyes.

"Look, I just wanted to say thank you. I better go."

He caught her arm to halt her.

"Wait, kid. I want to ask you some questions for my story. No bribery. No flirting. Just right up front questions."

She looked behind him and chewed her bottom lip.

"Okay."

"Hmm? Okay, what?" He had lost focus for a moment.

"I will answer questions. Just not here. Meet me out back in ten minutes."

He turned to leave out of the front entrance again. He noticed Jenny in the corner. Crying. Her right eye blackened. No sign of either of her suitors.

They sat together in the back alley on two chairs the rest of the staff designated for smoking. She twisted her handkerchief in her hands.

"I had only been working as a backup singer here for two months when Bruno approached me. It seems like the other girls were doing extra favors for the customers and he was looking for a new recruit. I told him I wasn't for sale at any price and I would make my way the hard way. He laughed at me and said I should enjoy my permanent spot as a nobody."

"Sounds like a real prize. Who is he anyway?"

"He's the stage manager. He and Jack, the bartender, run the behind the scenes racket." She twitched and shivered a little in her seat. They had both heard the loud bang behind them. He put a finger to his lips, stood up and slowly went around the corner. The kitchen staff was throwing trash out. No other sign of anyone. Calum saw an opportunity and decided to take it. He sprinted back to the chair and moved his close to hers.

"Trust me and just go with this."

"What are—"

He cut her off by closing the distance between them. Their mouths connected and Raini let out a tiny squeak. He placed a hand at the base of her jaw and drew her into him. She was full of tension but then her body melted to his. She pulled him closer by his lapels and allowed his tongue entrance in her mouth. Then, as quickly as it began it ended. She shoved him as hard as she could and he fell off the chair.

"Get off me, you big ape."

He sat in the dirty alleyway and grinned like he had won the Irish sweepstakes.

Two days later, at work, his heart dropped into his stomach when the staff sergeant reported a new crime scene and a new body.

He didn't know how he got there or hear anything the beat cop told him until he whipped back the sheet on the body.

"Jesus, Worthy, you're white as salt. What's wrong with you?"

It wasn't her. He went over to a nearby by tree and vomited. He didn't recognize her face but she had all the traditional markings. After receiving all the information he could, he headed back to his desk. The body had been brought to the morgue for identification. In the background, he heard the officers say a familiar name. She had come to identify the body and was being led back through to room.

Before he could move or back out, she saw him. Their eyes locked and he knew if it were within her power, he would have been dead right there.

Ten minutes later, his phone rang.

"Come to the park on Jefferson Boulevard." She hung up in his face.

He grabbed his hat and drove the few blocks down. She stood by a park bench looking like she stepped right out of a movie. The wind blew through her curls and the effect made his heart thump hard in his chest.

He stopped in front her and they stared each other down.

Finally, she broke the silence.

"Well, say something."

"Did you know the Mickey Mouse guy is making a full length movie?"

"What?"

"Yeah, supposed to have been working on it for three years. It's an adaptation of a fairy tale. Um, Little Red Riding Hood. No. Snow White. I read it in a trades paper."

"Isn't that the one where the wicked queen ate the heart and liver? That seems a little dark. Wait, did you say trades paper? Why are you reading a Hollywood trades paper?"

"I dabble in composing for movies."

"Oh, really…wait a minute. I'm furious with you. Why did you lie to me?"

"Honestly. I didn't think I would know you this long. I thought I would just wrap up a few questions and follow some leads. I didn't know I would become involved."

"Involved?" She whispered, suddenly staring at the ground.

"Or I want to be. I have been spending so much time building my career and trying to be someone on the force. I left emotional connections behind."

"I don't even know who you really are. Everything I know is a lie."

"So, let me tell you the truth. And if you don't like me, then, I'll take my leave."

She stood in front of him, chewing her lip and thinking.

"Will you still call me toots?"

"Sure."

"Will you buy me a hot dog?"

"Sure, toots."

He slid her hand to the crook of his elbow and they walked down to the hot dog vendor.

He sat at his table the following week as she took to the stage for her latest song.

I've got you under my skin  
I've got you deep in the heart of me  
So deep in my heart that you're really a part of me  
I've got you under my skin

I'd tried so not to give in  
I said to myself this affair never will go so well  
But why should I try to resist when baby I know so well  
I've got you under my skin

I'd sacrifice anything come what might  
For the sake of having you near  
In spite of a warning voice that comes in the night  
And repeats, repeats in my ear  
Don't you know little fool  
You never can win

She sat at the table with him after the set.

"Was that about anyone I know?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

She kissed him on the cheek.

He held on to that memory at work the next morning and was wondering if it was normal to be thinking of white picket fences this early on.

He came out of his reverie as the phone sounded on his desk.

"Worthy."

"Calum, Come over. Right now." Raini's voice sounds slightly strained.

"Can it wait? I'll be off in two hours. We can have a late supper and…"

"Calum, please!"

"Okay, toots, okay. Be there in ten minutes."

He knocked twice at her door but she didn't answer. He turned the knob and entered. He found her sitting at her kitchen table.

"Look, toots, if this is your coy plan to get me here to do a little heavy petting, I can only say I am thoroughly offended. And, please be gentle with me.

She hadn't spoken and was just staring down at her table.

"Toots?"

Nothing but silence.

"Kid?"

He had reached the table and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Raini?"

"Look at it." Her hand shook as she pointed at a gift box on the table.

"Somebody sent you a gift? Are you trying to make me jealous?"

"Oh, shut up, you idiot. Open it."

He slid the lid of the package and found a note scrawled in untidy penmanship.

_Tell your flatfoot boyfriend to back off or he gets the next one._

He pulled the note away and revealed a single finger with bright red polish.


	3. Chapter 3

"Pack a bag. You are coming to my place."

"Look, we have known each other less than a month and I don't shack up."

"I need to know your safe."

"I don't know if you noticed but I can take care of myself."

"Look, this banter is real fun in every other circumstance but I am asking you to be sensible."

"I am not worried about me."

He grabbed her wrist and she froze. "Well, I am. So do this one favor for me. I see you are a cool customer but I am a nervous wreck."

His eyes penetrated her soul and she stepped back. Her knees almost gave way.

"Give me ten minutes."

He called the station as she packed and before they left the box had been collected, pictures taken as well as Raini's statement.

Once she was safe in his apartment with a patrolman outside, he headed to the station house. They had printed the severed finger. He discreetly checked the fingerprints of women arrested for solicitation. He had chosen not to reveal the information he had received about the back alley dealings of The Cotton Club.

Just as he suspected, the name on the prints was given as Marion Rhodes but the mug shot showed who he knew to be Mary Anne Gibson.

He sat back at his desk and rubbed his temples. His phone shrilled at his side.

"Worthy."

"You the copper working the Cotton Club case?"

"Yes."

"I might have some very interesting information for you."

"Come down to the station. Let's talk about it."

"No. No police station. Meet me at the filling station at Palms and Overland at midnight."

The angry buzzing that signaled the disconnection shrilled in his ear.

He picked up some Italian take out and headed back to his place. It was alright for a bachelor and his hours didn't really give him time for upkeep like he would have wanted with a female visitor. Raini seemed the type to overlook a few dirty socks.

He walked in and she was just sitting on his sofa in a pair of white wide leg trousers. His mother had always taught him to treat ladies with respect and to respect their wishes. Calum really was not fond of women in trousers but she looked right at home. In his home and that made him happy.

"Hey, toots. I brought dinner."

"Smells incredible. I'm starved."

He placed his gun holster on the back of a kitchen chair. He unbuttoned his coat and hesitated. Looking between Raini and himself.

"I know you're Mr. Manners but it's okay. I've seen men without coats before." She chuckled.

He passed her and walked to his bathroom. He noted her stockings were hung out to dry on his shower curtain. A tiny perfume atomizer was perched in his medicine cabinet. He took in its scent. He splashed water on his care worn face and joined her in the kitchen. He pulled out a bottle of wine and glasses.

They sat at the table and talked about her Texas beginnings and her itch to perform. He told her of his want to make a difference in the world and how recently he wondered if law enforcement was really the best way.

He brought his radio into his sitting room. They sat on the couch and listened to Benny Goodman, Jack Benny, Fibber McGee and Molly, and Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons.

"Maybe that's what you should do."

"Be a radio actor?"

"No. Be a private investigator. It might be more fulfilling."

"And with less steady pay. What if I met someone I wanted to settle down with?" He shifted in his seat and edged his hand out as close to hers as he dared. She smiled and rubbed her pinky against his.

"Maybe you could find a girl who liked running around solving mysteries."

"Maybe."

He glanced at the clock and excused himself to bathroom to change. After a fresh shower and suit, he was ready to meet his mystery guest.

He grabbed his key at the night stand and walked into the sitting room. She was nowhere to be seen.

"Raini?"

She poked her head out of the kitchen.

"You're all dressed up? Got a hot date?"

"What if I did? Jealous?"

"Don't start with me, Worthy. What's going on?"

"I just need to go collect some information for the case."

"Are you saying you are going to meet an informant?"

"I didn't say that."

"You didn't say it but it's what's happening isn't it?"

He didn't answer.

"I'm going with you."

"No, you're not."

"I am, too."

"I thought we had this discussion earlier."

"I know you are worried for me but it's my life at stake here and I want to help."

She folded her arms across her chest and he knew that arguing was futile. They drove down to gas station in question and waited in the dark car. The air in car was filled with nervous tension.

"Want to neck?" He whispered through the silent car "It will seem less conspicuous"

"Very funny."

She fidgeted with the hem of the dress she changed in to. Fishnet stockings peeking out and teasing him with every fabric rustle.

He saw a shadowy figure moving in the alley way behind the gas station. He signaled for her to be quiet and left the car to follow.

A flashlight shone in his face.

"You Worthy?"

"Yeah. You my new friend from the phone?"

"Yeah. I am not even gonna ask because I know you are too smart to tell anyone about our little meeting."

"If you don't ask, then, I won't tell you I didn't."

"Smart. I knew it."

"Thanks for the compliments but get on with it."

"This whole thing goes further and higher up than you realize. You know Frank Sebastian?"

"The owner of the Cotton Club? Yeah, I know he is in some legal trouble. Something to do with the mob."

"That isn't even the half of it. You know he is running a girl service out of his club but the mob isn't fronting it, it's…."

He froze in the streetlight. He was about 6'2" and had thirty pounds on Calum. Calum saw his eyes lock on something behind him.

"You double crossing, son of a bitch. You said you were alone."

He advanced on Calum and his fist connected with Calum's eye and then his jaw. Calum kicked his feet from under him and his fist connected with his assailant's abdomen. Calum lost the upper hand when he took an elbow to the mouth.

Suddenly, a shot rang out it in the night. Calum did a quick check of his person and found no wound. He looked down at his informant and he was also unharmed. He looked behind him and Raini stood with his service revolver over her head. Looking pale as a ghost. He looked back and the informant had run away.

"What the hell was that?"

"Me saving your life."

She drove them back to his apartment.

She nursed his black eye with a towel full of ice. His cut lip with iodine. He groaned with every movement.

She readjusted the ice pack.

"You're beautiful, toots." He rubbed a circle on the inside of her thigh with his fingertips.

"I see that taking a beating didn't slow anything down"

"I did not take a beating. I fought back. He was just bigger."

"Of course, he was."

He slid his hand completely under skirt and slid her panties past her fishnet stockings. He took the ice pack out of her hands and pressed her against the wall. His head disappeared under her skirt. Her knees shook as his tongue connected with her clit. Rough licks and nibbles left her dripping. He stood and wrestled off his pants. He lifted her up off the ground and once again pressed her to the wall. She gasped as he entered. He started with gentle pulses and thrusts.

"You're killing me. Fuck me hard! I want to know you've been there."

He hitched her up a little higher on his waist and his onslaught was unrelenting. He felt her walls squeeze around him. He pulled her hair to one side and bit her neck.

"Pull it again."

He yanked her curls until she moaned.

"Take me to the bed."

He slid her onto the bed and she rolled them to where she was on top. She rolled her hips and clinched her muscles until she heard a chant of swears from his mouth. He pulled her off quickly and lay her flat.

"Not yet."

He bent her legs up and opened her slit. With adept fingers and tongue, he manipulated her clit until she left wet marks on her bed. Her knees shook again and she begged him.

"Please, I need you inside of me. Please."

He pulled her up on to his lap and they rode out another orgasm.

He heard her saying his name over and over. She shook his shoulder.

"Calum? You can take the bed and I'll take the couch."

He blinked five or six times.

"We can share."

"Or you can just keep dreaming on the couch."

She covered him with a blanket and extinguished the light.


	4. Chapter 4

**Be warned. This is a little dark. **

He roused from his sleep to the sounds of dishes clanking in the kitchen. Bacon and eggs captured his nose and loosened his taste buds. Her gentle humming made him smile. He went to the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth. As he approached the kitchen, he saw her transferring bacon from the pan to one of the second hand plates he inherited from his mother. He walked up behind and kissed her neck. She shivered, laughed and turned to kiss him soundly.

They sat together at the kitchen table ignoring everything they could have been talking about and the stark reality of death the surrounded them. He took a sip of his coffee.

"Oh my God. This is terrible!"

"Sorry, I don't drink a lot of coffee."

"It's okay. There is always a catch. Beautiful, smart, funny. It was too much. You had to have one fault."

She grinned ruefully.

"What are you doing today, Calum?"

"Going to work. I have a killer to catch."

"Skip it. Just for today. Take me to the pier."

"I can just hear me calling my boss. Sorry, sir, I know there are bodies piling up and a depraved criminal but Raini wants to ride the Ferris Wheel."

He backed up in his chair and she sat in his lap. She snaked her hand up his chest and pulled his face to hers. She kissed him until he forgot how to think. As she pulled away, she gently bit his bottom lip.

"Please?"

"Okay, okay. A man can only take so much."

They strolled down the pier, eating cotton candy and sipping Coca Cola. It couldn't have felt more like a movie to him. The fates, and maybe the pier workers, conspired to have the Ferris Wheel stop with them at the top and he took that opportunity to steal a few kisses.

As they continued, arm and arm through the various rides and games, he worked up the courage to ask her the questions that had been burning in his mind.

"You know, I have been thinking about leaving the force."

"Really? Would it be awful to say I am glad? I kinda like you. I want you safe."

"Actually, it's just what I needed to hear."

"What do you plan to do with yourself?"

"I've had an offer to compose musical scores for MGM."

"That's sounds like something just up your alley."

"I know this sounds crazy but come with me. Leave The Cotton Club. We'll schmooze all the stars and live in Bel Air."

"I can be actress/singer and maybe someday a director. I read an article about Dorothy Arzner and it just made my heart pound."

"You're making my heart pound."

"All this sounds like a great proposition, but…"

"Actually, it's a proposal."

She stopped abruptly and smiled up at him.

"Calum.."

"Yes?"

"There is a fortune teller. Let's get our fortunes told."

He chuckled and shook his head. Raini insisted they take turns so they could compare notes. He walked into a dim room with two guttering candles and a crystal ball in the middle. A plainly dressed woman without a hint of the usual theatrics of the usual "Gypsy" fortune tellers greeted him. She poured him a cup of tea.

"I am not a show woman." She stated with a gentle lilt. "My grandmother and great grandmother had the sight. This crystal ball is just for show. I only use it for people I feel who need it to believe me. I sense you are a man of reason and passion. Young man, when you are finished with your tea, I will read your leaves."

Calum sipped the hot drink quickly and handed her the cup. Trying to keep an open mind.

She tilted the cup by the candlelight.

"I see a lifetime love. A burning passion." She gasped softly and quickly recovered. "There will be troubles but you are to be together always."

She sat down the cup. "I see no more."

He thanked her, left a tip, and sent Raini in with a kiss to the top of her head.

He waited patiently for about ten minutes. She emerged looking bemused.

"Well?"

"You know how it goes. She looked into her crystal ball and said I would be famous and that children and adults alike would love me. That I would make the world laugh. Then, she got real cryptic and said to beware of the traps you set yourself."

"Nothing about love or soulmates?"

"Oh, like marry tall redheads and go and multiply with many red haired, olive skinned children?"

"Something like that."

"I got up when she said the part about traps. That is just common sense. I didn't want to waste your money anymore."

She took his hand and lead him further down the pier.

After a late supper and Raini was sleeping soundly on his bed, he tossed and turned realizing she had never answered.

The next day, after almost eight unbearable hours of making no progress, the chief called him in to his office. A body had been found except this time it was a man. Bruno.

He and the chief went to the morgue. Somber and Calum felt lost. One piece of the puzzle fell out of place. It didn't make sense. He was a core part of the team. What had happened?

"He deserved it. Running that prostitution ring." The chief huffed.

"Sir, how did you know about the prostitution ring?"

"What? What do you mean? It was in your reports, Worthy."

"No, it wasn't. I held that information back. From everyone."

"Oh, Worthy." He wiped his forehead. "I had to get a conviction. I had to have a cause to shut them down. Those girls didn't mean anything to anyone. They were whores."

"They were someone's daughter, sister, friend. "

The sound of running feet in the distance and the door flew open. Ten uniformed officers and two detectives charged in.

"Chief, you will surrender your weapon. You are under arrest for the murders of at least four known victims."

"What's happening?"

"Worthy, the chief here has been suspected of having a hand in this. We have been investigating him from the start. I'm sorry we couldn't let you know." Said a detective in a brown suit.

Calum watched as the chief was hauled away in hand cuffs. Cursing and screaming he hadn't done anything wrong.

He closed the files on his desk two hours later after giving his statement. Raini was coming to pick him up for dinner.

She smiled brightly and kissed him before she slid over so he could drive.

"Guess what? I got a call from my agent. I have a screen test with MGM on Monday. We can do what you wanted and run away. Now that this mess is over."

"Now, that it is over. I have been going over the facts in my head and there is just one thing that I don't understand." His hands gripped the steering wheel, knuckles white. "Why did you have my gun at that clandestine meeting with the informant?"

"Oh, Calum." She slid over close to him and kissed his neck.

It took a split second to realize that the sudden pain in his side was the blunt nose of a gun.

"You couldn't just let it be."

"Why?"

"Power, darling, and money. Davis was so tacky and brutal. They could have just been killed but no, he had to damage their bodies. Eyelids and ripped nylons."

"You forgot about the ring finger."

"Yes, he does have wife issues, doesn't he?" She rubbed the back of his ear with her index finger. A tear slid down Calum's cheek. Raini caught it and flicked it away.

"Oh, don't be that way. We can still get married and live happily."

"And I just roll over and pretend I don't know."

"It will be perfect. I have my chance in Hollywood sown up and you do too."

He sat in stony silence. She let out a sigh.

"Pull over up here."

He pulled in to a secluded garage and killed the motor. He felt the blast of air as the door opened and the pressure of arms as he was dragged from the car. His stomach lurched in horror as her heard her screams.

"No! I did what you said! You promised he wouldn't be hurt. You promised!"

Calum blinked repeatedly in the harsh lights as he recognized the voice, the outlines and finally the face of Jack the bartender.

"Never believe a crook, sweetheart. Besides, it's the boss' orders."

Jack began snaking rope around Calum's legs and tied knots strategically through out. The soft click of high heels echoed through room. A silhouette emerged from the darkness.

"Jenny?" Raini struggled against her bonds. She sat opposite him with panic lining her soft eyes.

Jenny crossed into the light. Something about her had changed. The innocence had fallen away. An angry sneer crossed her lips.

"You didn't think those dopes could pull this off. Mad for power. Blinded by a pointless cause. Organized crime is here and not likely to disappear. The first John I ever had was the good and honorable chief of police. We became an alliance. I sent him some girls that were no longer useful or got in my way. And he got to go on a big man hunt. And then, you, " She turned and swung her arm towards Raini. The sound of her hand connecting with Raini's face echoed through the room. "Just had to be all high and mighty. With principles."

"Now, you and your flatfoot boyfriend have to go."

Calum carefully slid his wrist from underneath the rope. As Jack approached him, he pushed himself up and towards him. Jack shoved him back to the wall and the chair broke into pieces, freeing him. He twisted the gun out his hand and hit him as hard as he could with it until he lay still on the floor. Calum ran to Raini and worked to untie her bonds. He could feel her shaking through the rope. He rubbed her wrists and ankles to get the circulation back.

"Let's get out of here, Toots."

"I hate to be a cliché but didn't you forget about something."

Calum turned towards the voice and saw the knife plunge into his ribcage. Jenny stood over him, the knife at her side dripping his blood. Raini's fist connected with face and she buckled and fell to the floor.

Tears ran down her face as his blood ran across the concrete. He couldn't feel his feet anymore and he knew that was trouble. She collapsed beside him.

"Calum, I want to say so many things to you…" She gasped through her tears.

"You know what, Toots? I had this dream about us the other night. I couldn't tell exactly where we were but we were dancing and laughing. I was reeling you in like a fish. It was like we just met but we knew each other forever. That's how long I'll love you, Toots. "

He could see that she was holding his hand but he couldn't feel it. He heard a shout behind them and sounds of struggle. A shot rang out and he saw her eyes go wide and then, become void. He wanted to scream or cry or hold her but he was pinned down by his own injury. He felt salty tears in his mouth and then, darkness consumed him.


End file.
